CVE-2026-74465: Linux kernel · net: openvswitch: fix potential UAF on meter attach failure
Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High · fixed in 5.15.0-1117.124~20.04.1 : patch Linux kernel soon.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 12:55 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 4% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 5.15.0-1117.124~20.04.1, 5.15.0-1123.132~20.04.1, 5.15.0-1122.131~20.04.1 +28
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 15 Aug 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.
What to do
Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinuxpkg:deb/ubuntu/linux?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-awspkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azurepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azure-fdepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-fde?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gcppkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gcp?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gkepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gke?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: openvswitch: fix potential UAF on meter attach failure While attaching a newly created meter attach_meter() function makes the new meter visible to other CPUs but can still fail afterwards. On failure, it detaches the meter back and returns an error. However, this is an unexpected behavior for the ovs_meter_cmd_set() that uses a plain kfree(meter) on attach failure without waiting for RCU readers to stop using it, assuming it was never visible. This is never a problem for ovs-vswitchd as it always creates meters before creating any flows that use them. But the UAF can be triggered with a custom application using uAPI: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ovs_meter_execute (net/openvswitch/meter.c:653) Read of size 8 at addr ffff88810d152650 by task meter/2508 Call Trace: ovs_meter_execute (net/openvswitch/meter.c:653) do_execute_actions (net/openvswitch/actions.c:1407) ovs_execute_actions (net/openvswitch/actions.c:1584) ovs_packet_cmd_execute (net/openvswitch/datapath.c:703) ... netlink_sendmsg (af_netlink.c:1900) Allocated by task 2519: __kasan_kmalloc (mm/kasan/common.c:398 mm/kasan/common.c:415) ovs_meter_cmd_set (net/openvswitch/meter.c:422) ... netlink_sendmsg (af_netlink.c:1900) Freed by task 2519: kfree (mm/slub.c:2705 mm/slub.c:6405 mm/slub.c:6720) ovs_meter_cmd_set (net/openvswitch/meter.c:479) ... netlink_sendmsg (af_netlink.c:1900) Fix that by making sure attach_meter() doesn't make the meter visible until all the checks are done and the function can't fail anymore. This also makes sure the "hash" value is calculated after the potential re-sizing of the table. Reported by Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative as ZDI-CAN-31642.
References
- ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-74465 (opens in a new tab)
- cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-74465 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/linus/a58a2b0ce354df531ebc71fc870058c2feb59f6b (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/0310d1fa7f9debd0d89629e9f14c7975a47eaa9a (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/431a295d93f76fbdb6a7cfce92a9e3dfee1e5d61 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/4d03e5fa3fbb1df15258a1eb3d6963f0d65659b3 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/90623c9499627803ef3f04fa25a3199402d4fb95 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/a58a2b0ce354df531ebc71fc870058c2feb59f6b (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8876-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8878-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8879-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8877-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8875-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8886-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8875-2 (opens in a new tab)